Let Him in.

Because it's a three-day weekend I decided to come home. It's been a good weekend so far. :)

Friday was a fun day–I had a 9 o'clock class and a three o'clock class. Finding things to do in the four and a half hours I had between classes was great–real fun. ;) I'm sure it will be filled a lot better in the upcoming weeks though. :) Friday night I had the opportunity to help my friend with some things and that was a fun couple of hours–she's awesome and I love her and I love helping her out. :)

Saturday I did some math homework. I'm still not done yet so that will happen either today or tomorrow (night, because I am SO not going to spend all day doing math AGAIN).

And today was great. I heard some things that I loved and needed to hear–not like needed to hear, but needed to hear. 

But first things first, my thoughts during the sacrament today:

In the sacrament hymn While of These Emblems We Partake, it says, "The law was broken; Jesus died That justice might be satisfied". And this reminded me a little of something we talked about in Gospel Doctrine last week. God requires justice, and we ask for mercy. Without a mediator, neither of us can move without the other having to give up something that they desperately want/need. Thankfully, we do have a mediator–our Savior, Jesus Christ. He was willing to pay the price so that, with His help, we can receive mercy and be able to live with God again (Note: Any time this topic comes up, I always think of this video that you should definitely watch because it's great).

I am so grateful for my Savior, and that He was willing to pay the price so that I can be able to live with my Heavenly Father again someday. <3

So today was fast Sunday, and there were a couple of things that some people said in their testimonies today that I loved and wanted to share:
-We're not perfect, but Heavenly Father can look at us and see perfection because of Jesus Christ.
-You don't need to know something, you just need to believe it [and soon you will come to know it].
-God will answer your prayers in time [in His time, and when you are ready].

In Gospel Doctrine there were some things that we talked about that I liked and wanted to share:
-We reap what we sow [i.e., if you do good things, you'll be blessed].
-Our choices determine our future [What we choose to do will have consequences and repercussions that follow, for better or for worse].
-God does not excuse us from the consequences of our actions; we have to be responsible for our own actions and the consequences that follow.

Relief Society was great. It was based on a talk from the September 2016 Ensign entitled, "Can We Live 'after the Manner of Happiness?'" by Elder Brent H. Nielson. One of the things that he said that was quoted that I absolutely loved was this: "if [you don't] have trials in [your] life, the plan [is not] working for [you]." We go through trials to learn and grow, and to become stronger in many aspects of our life. One of the things that Sister Morley talked about was the fact that sometimes we don't turn to God because of our own stubbornness. We feel like we should be able to do things by ourselves and we don't lean on God. That's a silly idea–because there is a way out! There is a way out of our pains, sorrows, and burdens. Jesus Christ has already paid the price, so it would be silly to say, "I can do this on my own." She said, and I agree, that He must be so sad when we do not turn to Him–it must break His heart. The way that we can receive help from Him is first possible by us letting Him in. I know, I know–many times it's hard to let Him in, and oftentimes it's because of our innate human stubbornness, but other times it's because we feel embarrassed, ashamed, or unworthy to be asking for His help. Listen to me: You are ALWAYS worthy and loved and should feel no shame or embarrassment in asking for His help. You are an imperfect human being who makes mistakes, and God knows that, and that is why we have a Savior–to help us repent, repair, and return to God when we make mistakes.

I know that we are blessed to be able to have a Savior to turn to. I know that He loves us UNCONDITIONALLY. No matter what we have done, He still loves us. We are blessed to have been created by loving Heavenly Parents who only want what is best for us, and we are blessed to have an Elder Brother who loves us so much that He was willing to die for us so that we could return to our Heavenly Parents. He also knew that sometimes His gift and sacrifice would not be utilized and yet He still atoned and died for us anyway. If that is not love, I don't know what is. I am so blessed to have been able to have a chance in my life to really and truly feel the power of the Atonement and the love of my Savior. He truly does love us, and there truly is a way back. I'm far from perfect, and I've made my share of mistakes (and then some), and I've had my share of troubles and sorrows and questionable moments, and I know that life is crazy hard and intense sometimes, but when it all comes down to it, I know this: I know that I am loved, I am cherished, I am wanted, and I am enough for and by my Heavenly Parents. And that gives me peace. I know that you are loved, cherished, wanted, and are enough for and by Them, too, and I just want you to know that you are a wonderful person. You are a child of God, a daughter or son of a King, and you are so precious to Him.

Xoxo
Mattie

"Ask, and it shall be given you"

Totally random, but I changed the look of my blog. And I know most people won't have seen the old version, but I'm just letting you know it didn't always look the way it does now. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about.

In one week, I will be back in school. And I'm frightened. So, so frightened. But I'm also excited. It's a toss up. I'm frightened because it's my last year in high school and what if I fail some of my classes???? I am a good student, but sometimes I worry about "what if I fail?" and I just don't want to be held back because I failed a class. I'm excited because it's my last year in high school!! Woohoo!!

So you see why it's a toss up.

But I have this paper—like a spiritual directory—and for "When you need help in school", the scripture to look at is Doctrine and Covenants 136:32, and it reads: "Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he might hear". And here is one that I love in St. Matthew 7:7: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you". And I know that if I have trouble this year in school—or anywhere I'm ignorant, really—I can ask my Heavenly Father and He will help me, as long as I do my part and do my best first before I ask for a little more help, He will answer my prayers. And I know that you can ask, too, and He will also help you. 

It doesn't always have to be.

Sometimes it's hard to be the big sister. Sometimes it's hard to be a good example. Sometimes it's hard to keep my temper. Sometimes it's hard to be patient. Sometimes it's hard to be calm. Sometimes it's hard to keep track of everything that's on my plate. Sometimes it's hard to let go. Sometimes it's hard to remember why. Sometimes it's hard to take a breather. Sometimes it's hard to remember the important stuff. I bet you have a list of "Sometimes it's hard to..."'s, too. But it doesn't always have to be. In times of "Sometimes it's hard to..."'s, you can rely on Christ. You can ask Him to help take some of the burden or to help you get through. But all you have to do is ask. He'll never say no, and He's been waiting for you to ask. It doesn't always have to be hard. Christ is there to lift the burden and help you get through it all. I know that life is hard sometimes. But, Christ is there to help you up. In the words of a certain genius songwriter I know: "Sometimes life is hard and you don't want to go on. But you need to remember you are a child of God, of royal birth, sent to this Earth to spread His word. And you need to remember to arise, shine, and stand for what's right and true. You need to recognize your faith and you have to tell yourself: 'My faith is sure. His love is pure. I believe in Him and know that He is true.'" Isn't that just genius? Everyone give a round of applause to...drum roll, please....Mattie Radke! Yes, me. I wrote that song for another Personal Progress project. Life doesn't always have to be hard. You just have to remind yourself who you are, and whose you are. Knowing exactly who you are helps you find out why you belong here, where you're going, and how to take care of all those "Sometimes it's hard to..."'s. To be honest, sometimes I get so caught up in the now, that I forget some of the most important things, like my friends and family, and scripture study. I've been better about remembering, but sometimes I forget. I think that the most important thing to getting over your "Sometimes it's hard to..." blues is this: Trials are like a roller coaster ride, with its ups and downs, but there are some calm moments at the beginning and the end of every trial, because The Lord doesn't always want you to be getting 'sick'. He wants you to feel good about yourself for a while. Remember that He sometimes sends people or something else that you may need when you need them. Just remember that life gets better, and it's only bad when your attitude is bad. Stay positive. It helps!! I should know. :)